Oct. 18, 2011
HONOLULU – No. 8 Hawai’i used a match-high 13 kills from Kanani Danielson as the Rainbow Wahine defeated the Notre Dame volleyball team, 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 25-17), Monday night in front of 5,782 fans at Stan Sheriff Center.
Notre Dame (11-7) out-blocked Hawai’i (18-1), 9.0 to 6.0, but was out-hit by the host Rainbow Wahine, .224 to .134.
The win was the 13th straight for Hawai’i and snapped a three-match winning streak for the Irish.
The Irish did not have a player record double-digit kills but were led by sophomore Andrea McHugh’s nine. McHugh had 10 digs with seniors Frenchy Silva and Kristen Dealy adding 12 apiece.
Notre Dame surrendered four aces with sophomore Sammie Brown hammering home the lone ace for the visitors.
Dealy recorded a solo block with Notre Dame trailing 14-11 to go along with four kills in the first set.
On set point, Notre Dame’s final serve found nothing but net for its sixth service error of the frame.
The other side of the court saw Hawai’i rack four aces, two of which came from Danielson. The Rainbow Wahine were held without an ace for the rest of the match.
Notre Dame out-hit Hawai’i in the opener, .121 to .091.
The second began with the Rainbow Wahine scoring on six of the first seven rallies but soon became a game of cat and mouse.
A double-block by Dealy and freshman Toni Alugbue gave Notre Dame a 19-18 lead which extended to 21-19 on McHugh’s big swing from the left side.
Hawai’i had an overpass fall for a kill to finish a 4-0 run while taking a 23-21 lead. Jane Croson had the final two kills in the set for the Rainbow Wahine.
Hawai’i more than doubled the Irish count in the third, 11-5, after a 6-0 run with Notre Dame closing to within 15-11 on junior Hilary Eppink’s gunner through the block.
The Irish closed to within four once again at 19-15 on a Hawai’i attack error, yet were unable to come within striking distance for the duration of the period.
The two teams square off again at 7:00 p.m. (HT) on Tuesday.
–ND–